Men 'want more family time'

Men are increasingly yearning for a better work-life balance and want their partners to share the role of breadwinner so they can spend more time with their children, according to a survey published today.

A study commissioned by FHM magazine found seven out of 10 men say they reject the gender roles of their fathers' generation in favour of a 50/50 partnership, in which both they and their partner would go out to work, sharing childcare and housework.

However, while indicating that men believe they have made a dramatic shift in roles in the last 30 years - at the behest of women - the survey also suggests that men feel women have now changed their minds and want to go back to old roles.

Half of men with a baby or young children say their partner "now wants him to earn enough so she can be a full-time mother", while 38% say their partner wants them to earn enough to allow her to work part-time.

The magazine's male lifestyle survey 2007, which questioned 2,000 men around the UK with an average age of 30, offers fresh evidence of the turmoil taking place in many homes as couples attempt to grapple with changing gender roles and pressure to achieve both career fulfilment and a happy family life.

Another study, published yesterday by the government's digital information and advice service Directgov, found that almost a third of UK parents feel their greatest stress is not spending enough time with their children.

For those with children aged seven to nine, the proportion concerned that they cannot reconcile Britain's long hours working culture with family responsibilities rises to 40%, affecting both fathers and mothers equally.